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Editorial

Get ready for the fair

Celebration of state’s farming heritage begins Wednesday

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Tuesday July 23, 2013 5:36 AM

It’s magic time again. Time for the kaleidoscope of the fairground’s Midway lights to glitter against the summer night sky.

Time for the carousel’s music, the singsong pitches of salesmen and skill-game carnies, the thrilled screams of concert fans and the awed gasp of a child as he watches a calf being birthed. Time for butter cows and ice cream cones that melt on one’s fingers.

For city folks in central Ohio, the fair is a chance to learn about one of Ohio’s largest industries. More than half of the land area in Ohio, nearly 14 million acres, is used for agricultural purposes. Take hogs, for example. The state has about 3,700 farms that produce about four million hogs a year; 27 percent of the pork raised in the state is exported to other countries.

Some of the best teachers at the fair are the children who’ve come to show animals they’ve raised. Anyone who thinks that the American ideals of hard work, involved parenting and good sportsmanship are disappearing can have his faith restored by popping into any one of the barns and watching the boys and girls tend their entries, as their parents or 4-H instructors have taught them.

A lot of the fair is over the top: There is monster-arm wrestling, which involves using a special table with a simulated hinged arm, giant deep-fried gummy bears, speedy pig races and strolling Danny DeVito and Dolly Parton impersonators.

But much of the fair is pure Americana: boxing, baton-twirling and cheerleading competitions; parades with the bright faces of youths in the fair choir and band, where they form friendships and memories that can last a lifetime; fishing at the Natural Resources Park; projects from scouts; and country and pop music concerts. There also are Civil War encampments and an Abe Lincoln-tribute performer.

Then, get off the midway and check out the barns and commercial buildings: That’s where the real Ohio is on display.

Of course, there’s too much to see at the fair in just one day. To help plan a visit — or three — there is a handy fair schedule posted online at http://bit.ly/197YORD.

In central Ohio it’s easy to be spoiled and take the fair for granted. But it wasn’t always in our backyard. The first Ohio State Fair was held in Cincinnati in 1850, having been postponed for a year because of an outbreak of cholera. The two-day attendance was estimated at 25,000 to 30,000, likely mostly those who lived close by.

In 1874, the fair permanently moved to Columbus, in what is now Franklin Park, and then to its current site in 1886.

Last year, attendance at the Ohio State Fair topped 840,000. Not surprisingly, the top-selling food items at the fair were French fries, pizza and corn dogs. According to other fair trivia, the Ferris wheel has 7,500 LED lights, the SkyGlider carries 1,800 riders per hour in 98 cars along a half-mile stretch and the Giant Slide has 105 steps to get to the top.